Ray Charles, 73, died in LA today.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3796085.stm
SAD,sad news,Glauber.
Ray Charles was a True Giant of popular music,bringing together Gospel,Blues,Jazz,Soul,Countryā¦He wasnāt called āThe Geniusā for nothing.
I was lucky enough to see Ray perform in Newcastle about 9/10 years ago,and he was GREAT.
He will be sadly missed.
Tough.
Claude Nougaro a few weeks ago, now him.
Iāll learn a tune of his favourites.
What a talent. Heāll be missed. Time to thinkā¦which of his songs is your favourite? I need time to consider it.
Jef
France Musiques (public radio) just stopped its scheduled program of classical music.
Now its a Ray Charles night.
Thanks.
I think my favourite Ray Charles things were when he was playing Hammond organ, especially the older stuff. What an amazing player he was, before he became successful as a singer!
May he rest in Peace, the World will be a poorer place without him.
Goodnight all,
D.
Probably a tie between Georgia on my Mind and America the Beautiful. A truly classic performer - heāll surely be missed.
this is really sad newsā¦
he was one of the greatest.
Peace Ray, you were truly one of a kind.
Loren
Ray (Charles) Robinson was from my home town, Albany, Georgia. So is Ray Stevens and Ray Knight (Mets 2nd baseman - Coach for the Cincinnati Reds) ā¦ must be a Ray thing! (although my real name is Charles - my fathers name was Ray. He wasnāt from Albany but he did die there)ā¦ .
I always loved āTell me What you Sayā . My bands would play that tune every night. As a drummer, I would get to rock out because of that kind of Latin vibe that tune has. And when it would get to that call and reply phase between the band and the audience, with just the drums playing, i was in heaven! Made up for all those boring slow songs we had to play at 2:00am when I was nodding off.
Many people didnāt know that Ray Charles was a herion addict for like 20 years. Lucky that didnāt kill him, or maybe it did, drugs did kill alot of my music idols.
Iāll put in a vote for āIāve got a woman.ā
Ray was one of a kind; as others have pointed out, he blended so many different styles. I certainly prefer his more bluesy stuff, but everything he did, he did well.
I know he was sick for some time, I hope he didnāt suffer.
Amazing talent.
āMean Woman Bluesā by him (and of course, Elvis P) was my favorite.
Although I do feel sorry for his many illegitimate children by I believe 7 women.
Alcohol and heroin are the āstupid drugsā and using them, you can do very idiotic and stupid things.
I just wonder what several of my fav musicians could have done without getting hooked on drugs. I wonder if comes from early success or if it might be a part of musical genius?
Did Mozart do drugs?
Hit the Road Jack <-------------my fave, makes my feet move
I agree with Hit the Road Jack and Whatād I Say for my favorites.
I can never think of him without thinking of the old Sat. Night Live skit where John Belushi played him as some classical composer (donāt remember who, but perhaps Beethoven?) anyway he, Jane Curtain and Lorraine Newman did a great bit. I think Ray Charles hosted that episode. I donāt knowā¦it was a long time agoā¦but it was funny and stuck in my mind. 
Ray Charles was a truly great musician by anyoneās standard.
Very sad news. Ray Charles was a very fine singer and musician who was hugely important to the way I play and think about music, whatever the style. He wasnāt the first to bring gospel music to the dance halls but he was the first to build a career out of that. As a child, his LP Yes Indeed was one of the first I ever bought.
I canāt give a favourite tune. Of his later songs, āGeorgia on My Mindā stands out as the definitive version of that song. Of his earlier Atlantics Iād have to mention āMess Aroundā, āGreenbacksā, āLonely Avenueā, āDrown in My Own Tearsā, āGet on the Right Trackā and āI Believe to My Soul.ā
Before he found his own voice with Atlantic, he made a lot of records in the late '40s and early '50ās as one of the countless Nat King Cole imitators around at the time. These are perfectly decent records which would be more collectible if he hadnāt found a different and more appealing voice later. I donāt know if itās still around but there was a 3 CD box set of his Atlantic R&B sides which is just stunning.
Ray Charles was that rare individual who successfully transcended modern popular musicās lines of āgenreā and had very solid music on various charts. In that, he was a genius.
One of my favorites was ā(Night Time is) the Right Timeā, the original version on Atlantic, with Margie Hendricks and the Raylettes singing backup. They did a very neat lip-sync to that version on the Crosby show.
I think he played sax on āFrenesiā on the same album. Some other great ones that havenāt been mentioned yet are āGod Bless the Childā (āThem Thatās Gotā), āIām Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Townā, āHow Long Bluesā, āBaby Please Donāt Goā, and āRubyā.
He helped Stevie Wonder get started, too, back in the early '60s.
The first time I ever ran across the term sui generis, it was being applied to Ray Charles.
It gives me goose bumps to hear him sing the phrase āGod shed his grace on thee.ā
Ray Charles left a legacy of music for the present and future generations of music lovers. He brought happiness to hearts and shook a lot of legs. Thanks, Mr. Charles.
Mike